The Children’s Development Khazana (CDK) or Bal Vikas Khazana as it is known in India is a logical evolution of Butterflies’ saving and credit union scheme and works on banking and cooperative principles.

Children between the age group of 9-18 years are the only stake holders of CDK. Any rural poor, urban or street and working child can save money with the Khazana, which is their own and is run by children like them, under the guidance of adult facilitators. Implemented as part of life skill education, CDK enables its members to earn an interest on their deposits and its adolescent members to access advances for initiating small economic enterprises or cooperatives.

Children’s participation is the basic premise on which CDK is designed, implemented and promoted, with children coming together as collectives to take action for their self-empowerment. Children are the ones who are the managers and promoters of CDKs. The CDK members nominate their own Child Volunteer Managers (CVM) and members for the advance (loan) committee, who are then provided trainings to handle their responsibilities in dealing with members and working in a team, and are put to function under the guidance of the adult facilitator. They run the Khazanas at set timings, handle children’s money, maintain cash books, ledgers, passbooks and disburse and monitor advances.

CDK focuses on empowering its adolescent members to plan for their future, build their business skills and move towards a secure and sustainable future. The first step in this direction is to encourage them to complete their high school education, as a prerequisite to the success of any business enterprise or career. Alongside they are taught to develop business plans, elaborating on planning for business, capital and other resources required, marketing, calculation of profit and so on. They can request for a development advance and start a small business enterprise of their own as a step to necessarily move towards securing their future as they enter adulthood.

Started in Delhi in April 2001 as a vehicle to empower street and working children, the project is operational in the South Asia with 120 branches of CDK in Afghanistan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Kyrgyzstan. Within India, in Leh (J&K), Kolkata (West Bengal), Wayanad (Kerala), Delhi, Mujaffarpur (Bihar), Bhubaneswar and Mayurbhanj (Orissa), Jaipur (Rajasthan), Mumbai (Maharashtra)) and Ghaziabad (UP).